The beautiful October has arrived.
We're in the last quarter here, quilty friends.
What is it going to take to get those finishes
to happen yet this year?
I'm feeling up to it so let's do this!
First, a visit last week's to-do list:
1) Take pics from hop and quilt/vintage sale;
post for everyone.
This was an easy one to complete.
After these to-do's I'll share my pics from the hop.
With so much to cover, I'd better wait till next
week to share the vintage sale pics though.
(Pretty excited about a few fun goodies I scored there!)
2) Finish WP quilt and list. Try to get something
going with those table runners?
I made sure this one was a finish before
I headed out on the shop hop.
My son's West Point hat made a nice prop.
(It's too small for him so he gave it to me)
With all the quilts I've made lately,
Mount Scrap Batting has only grown larger and
threatens to take over more of my precious sewing
space so it must be tackled and taken down a
level...or five.
Enter the table runners that I keep saying I'm
going to finish. They're perfect for using up the
scraps from my WP quilts along with that batting.
I just need some time to complete them!
3) Work on "September" if I get time?
Now calling it September Glow.
I slowed down on this project but I'm still chipping
away at it. The final strip sets were made and cut
into segments; I worked on getting these sewn into
blocks during the during the KC Chiefs game last night
but didn't quite finish (or get a more current pic).
And now for the shop hop.
Shop Hop 2020: A Story With Pictures
(lots of pictures!)
(Irregular font sizes brought to you by Blogger)
Normally, the Central KS Shop Hop takes place over
the first Thursday through Sunday of October.
This year it's extended through the 17th to avoid
any crowding. Unfortunately, this kind of took away
from the fun and excitement but, c'est la vie.
Each shop makes a quilt featuring fabric designed
especially for the shop hop.
This year's theme is Enchanted Garden so when you
see this bright floral fabric show up in the pics,
you'll know that was a shop's "entry" for the hop.
(Patterns and kits for these are available,
along with the year's t-shirt.)
Okay, time to start hopping!
I'm not doing all this driving without first getting
caffeinated--priorities!
First stop: Bee Hive Quilts in Wellington, KS
(Pop: about 8,000)
It's now 9 am and the doors open.
We grab our passport for the day and get the
"paperwork" out of the way before browsing.
"paperwork" out of the way before browsing.
This passport gets stamped at every shop;
a filled passport turned in at the end of the hop
is an entry for the main prizes.
I only make it to this shop once a year
(on the shop hop) but I always note that if there is
a pre-cut someone ever needs asap, this is definitely
the place to go! Above is just the main selection;
there are many more all around the shop.
They also have a fun fat quarter selection.
If I lived closer, I would enjoy becoming part of this
shop's community (classes, etc). If you're a thrifty
shopper, the clearance section is not too special but
they do make up for it in other ways.
I always see many ladies buying up block and setting
kits for the various shop hop quilts but I am not into kits
so I have not done this so far. I suppose I might
someday but, as you might have guessed, this year's
fabric is a little bright for my style.
I didn't find any fabric at Bee Hive Quilts but I picked
up a pair of rotary cutter earrings. No self-respecting
quilter would be without these, right??
Next up: Winfield, KS, a town of about 12,000.
Each shop has its own prize basket drawing. I learned
years ago to bring address labels (email/phone # too!)
to slap on those drawing slips and move on. There is so
much to see this day that you don't want to waste time
filling out those slips. You laugh, but I'm very serious!
They always have some nice quilts displayed down their
hallway but it makes it a little difficult for taking pics.
The one on the right is a KS Troubles, and I love the
border on the blue/white one. I hope to do something
similar someday--in color and border. By the way,
I was hoping to pick up some blues on this trip but
but I didn't find a single one. No hurry I guess.
Here's a cute way to sell a set of fat quarters!
I missed taking a picture of their shop hop quilt
so I grabbed this from their website.
I did snatch a pic of an opportunity quilt. Many of
the shops sell chances on these at this time and I
always feel guilty not helping out there but I already
too many of my own that don't have a place
to be displayed, or even stored for that matter!
(I have been looking for a display hutch.)
I picked up a couple yards of this fall fabric from the
clearance rack, thinking how perfect it would be as
the first border on my September Glow quilt.
I also snatched up a flying geese ruler/tool.
I've always kept my ruler collection to a minimum
but this was their shop hop "special" item so the
price was right--a bit of a treat for myself.
(I love flying geese!)
Our next stop is Severy, KS. It's in the middle of
nowhere so their name, Needle In a Haystack,
is very appropriate. (It shows a population of 230.)
If any of you follow along with Missouri Star, you've
probably seen "flat Jenny" popping up all around.
We decided to take her on our road trip
to play along on Instagram.
Jenny loves a good shop hop, too.
Needle in a Haystack's shop hop quilt.
I picked up 2 yards of this "Bonnie & Camille" fabric
to add to my collection. I keep saying I'm going
to use it all up and move on to something else but
at $6/yd, I figured I'd better get some to help me
use up what's in my stash, right?
I know you understand what I mean by that.
Also, 2 yards of random red small print.
Both are $6/yd clearance goodies.
Back into Wichita (east side) we go to stop into
one of our LQS's. (Pop: 650,000)
Hen Feathers is the one that has the best
"end of the bolt" sale where I always stock up at
$4/yd; however, because of Covid, they haven't
wanted to risk a crowd.
Sadly, no sales for months now but I've been
doing okay...in case you're worried about me.
Some minis behind the counter. I've always wanted
to get in on their monthly mini club. I just missed it
last year...which probably turned out to be a good thing
since Covid interrupted it. Watching for sign-ups this year.
We've hit everything south and east so it's time
to head the other directions. Next stop:
Charlotte's Sew Natural in Newton, KS.
(Pop: 19,000)
I appreciate the simplicity of their shop hop
quilt but that's a lot of white space for me.
I always enjoy looking at their mini display.
I also enjoy all fall and Halloween fabric.
"I would like every. single. bolt. in this section, please.
I'll just back the car up to the door..."
Sadly, I didn't get any--or anything else there--but
I put them all on my "watch list" and
headed on up to McPherson (Pop: about 13,000).
I love small town main streets. Aside from quilt shops,
I don't have much of a reason to visit these places but
I've tried to go a little more often these days to help the
local shops. I may live on the edge of a decent-sized city
but I grew up a farm girl. I guess I get the best of both
worlds because I feel very at home in both.
If you've followed me for a while (please follow me!),
you'll recognize Stitches, my go-to for backing fabric.
It's a simple entrance but inside they're always
so friendly and have that $5/yd clearance section.
I sneaked a peak at what was on the design wall
in their sewing room. Hexies are everywhere
right now, aren't they?!
Another shop hop quilt.
Random quilt in my kind of colors.
I really want to do a black-background quilt.
I did find this clearance bolt (7+ yds) to take home, btw:
I'm thinking my next quilt will be more primitive,
or maybe a colonial style? But I didn't find
anything else to go with those ideas so we'll see.
From here we headed over to Alden.
(Pop: 142. That's right. 142!)
Prairie Flower Crafts is always known for
its little quilt-themed car parked out front.
We decided it was time to tag Jenny again.
The reds caught my attention in this one.
Heading over to Hutchinson, KS (Pop; 41,000),
we hit Sew In 2 Quilts, formerly Cottonwood Quilts.
I miss the huge inventory of the older, more
established quilt shop but I can only imagine how hard
it is to start up. Wishing the new owners all the best
and happy to see them stay in the hop.
And, lastly, we pull up to Picket Fence quilts
back in Wichita--west side this time.
At this point I realized I was slacking off of
my picture-taking so I decided to make up
for lost images.
I was also feeling a little disappointed in my
lack of purchases--especially after last year's
record haul. I wanted something seasonal and
inspirational to finish off the hop.
Almost every shop we had visited that day
had a pumpkin quilt of some sort on display.
Picket Fence had two, and I found myself
really looking at both of them.
I settled on this Hocus Pocus quilt pattern
(showing up all over Instagram, btw) because
I felt it had the opportunity for some fun
fabric play. I love the Fig Tree Quilts fabric
line but I'm hoping I can pull from the stash.
I have so many fall and Halloween quilts that
I struggle to display them all throughout the
season but apparently I still need one more?!
Happy jack-o-lanterns are right up there
with happy snowmen in my book.
And chains--I love chain quilts, too.
With that little purchase, the 2020 shop hop came
to a close for me. If you're wondering how long did
all of this driving and shopping take? I left the house
at 7:30 am and pulled back in our drive around 7 pm.
Almost 12 hours (I didn't look at the miles).
Overall, it was not the best of shop hop excursions
but with all the disruption, I am just grateful to be able
to get out and be a part of it; and most of all,
to help these small businesses that might be
struggling to get through this year. The clearance
deals were as I suspected (much smaller selections)
so I am glad I stocked up over previous trips.
I found a few things, got some ideas and maybe I'll
even win a prize basket? Because they extended
the length of the hop, my wait is longer. Sigh.
I hope you've enjoyed my drive around the region.
I have another shop to visit soon--this one much
farther away. But that post will be in a few weeks.
For now, I need to settle in for some serious sewing!
What can I squeeze in this week?
Next week's to-do's:
1) Finish September Glow blocks
2) Make WP table runner (s); maybe some
walker bags (grandparent gifts?)
3) Start on Hocus Pocus?
Happy Quilting!
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